Cloud of Witnesses

Good morning,

This week has been rather uneventful so far. At church we were led in worship by the young adults from the Global Leadership Academy, which was neat to see. It reminded me of youth services back home. Always good ones.

Anyway, since my blog would otherwise be empty or trivial, I decided to share something that I've been learning in my devotions and experiences here.

In Hebrews 11, the author lists a number of heroes of the faith. This list includes people like Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets. And the author goes on in Hewbrews 12 to say, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" [emphasis mine].

This passage has always been a boost for me. It's always struck me as powerful that I worship the same God as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, C.S. Lewis, my own grandparents, and millions of others. The strength in that "holy catholic church, the communion of saints" is simply overwhelming and no matter what I am going through, it has always been clear that the gates of hell could not overcome an institution like that.

I think the Christian Reformed tradition (which I am a part of) does a very good job of exemplifying that tradition. We study the teachings and doctrines written out by wise Christians of the past, and our worship style also reflects a connection to the past. I think these are fantastic things.

But one thing that I am beginning to see here is that the communion of saints extends into the present. For some reason (not the CRC's fault), I haven't always felt connected to Christians of different traditions or geographies. Perhaps this is because I'm, by nature, focused on the writings and teachings of past scholars. Perhaps it is simply because I've never been deeply immersed in another tradition.

So what I'm beginning to learn, and what I hope God will continue to teach me, is that his Church extends beyond my recognition. There are people who worship God in ways I will probably never be fully comfortable with. There are people who worship God in languages I will never understand. There are people who are trying to follow God's commands in situations that I will only ever see a hint of. But I pray that God will help me see others as he sees them, as his beloved.

"The grace of God is dangerous. It's lavish, excessive, outrageous, and scandalous. God's grace is ridiculously inclusive. Apparently God doesn't care who He loves. He is not very careful about the people He calls His friends or the people He calls His church." -Mike Yaconelli

-Ben

P.S. It's good that I named this blog "Learning to Serve..." It feels like there's so much I need to get straightened out before I can really serve. If I may share one more quote that comforts me, it's from Jonathan Edwards: "God’s work of power and grace will not be thwarted by our great many errors and sin."

Landscape

Well, my fried rice again turned out edible. Next time I might try to spruce it up with some chicken and bean sprouts (if I can find them). And probably a bit less soy sauce. But it actually turned out better than I was expecting. Nevertheless, yesterday I returned to familiar ground with apples and hard-boiled eggs. This weekend I'm going to try unrefrigerated boxed milk (wish me luck).

But before this turns into a cooking blog and my level of expertise on the subject becomes nil, I'll leave food updates for significant events. So far my posts have been fairly succinct, but today's might be a bit longer simply because I'm going to include a number of pictures. I thought you might be interested in seeing the actual place I'm in, and it's really quite beautiful. So I'll try to give you a big picture by using little pictures.

These first two are taken looking out from my porch:

These next two are taken on my way to work, looking South (right) from the road I walk on.

This is the other side of the road, but is taken on the way home because it's obscured by mist in the morning:

This is the park in which I spent Sunday morning (before church) reading:

This is the hill I climb up when I'm leaving town. It's hard to get a sense of the grade unless you look at the building across the street. However, I'm going to blame the difficulty of the climb on the altitude; we're over 1,000m above sea level here.

This is taken from the exact same spot, looking toward downtown. I give you, a small portion of Mbabane.

I hope now you have a little bit better picture of where I am. It's usually much more crowded, but most of these pictures were taken before 7am, when I'm one of the few people on the streets. These pictures don't capture the beauty very well, but I think you might be able to enlarge them by clicking, which might help.

-Ben

P.S. If a single nosebleed is something I should be concerned about, let me know. I remind you that the altitude here is over 1,000 meters, which is almost as high up as we are when we go to Brewer games, where we sit in the section referred to as the "nosebleed section."

A Series of Firsts Among a Series of Firsts

Good Morning,

I must say, this entire adventure has been a bunch of firsts. My first trip away from North America, my first time using pre-paid electricity (which really makes me stingy), etc. But yesterday I also had some local firsts: things that I've done for the first time in Africa.

1. I went shopping and purchased a frying pan and a pot, as well as a few dishes. This enabled me to boil water and make some noodles, onto which I put some assorted spices and consumed as dinner. While I've never claimed to be a cook by any stretch of the imagination, I must say that it was an edible, if unimaginative, dish. This was my first cooking experience in Africa, and a good supplement to the large quantities of fruit that I've been purchasing from roadside stands (food here is fairly cheap). Unfortunately, I don't have a refrigerator, so milk and cheese are not among my ingredients yet. But tonight I intend to try making some rice, and if I succeed at that, to fry it with some egg (which apparently doesn't need to be refrigerated?), soy sauce, and onion. At worst, I'll have a funny story to tell next time I blog.

I've been surprised that the food here is actually quite similar to the food I'm used to (although there is a ton more chicken used here). I think most of the food is heavily influenced by South Africa's european twist. This morning for breakfast I ate Weet-bix with peanut butter on it (again, no milk).

2. So far I've been learning how the organization works, what everyone's roll is, and the processes that we go through in day-to-day activities. Tinashe is in Kenya (at the Partners Conference) for the week, but when he gets back we're going to start working on a grant proposal. Of course, being me, I would love to be given a task that I could just dive into and defeat, but I think it's probably good that I'm learning about things here and they're learning about me.

Nevertheless, I did get to use my skills yesterday. Naomi's (Tinashe's wife) computer was periodically shutting down, and as I've spent a fair amount of time diagnosing and fixing computers, I was able to take it apart, clean it out, and restore it to a working condition. While not exactly what I was planning on, it was nice to be useful.

Between the earthquake and the Brewers newfound success, I ask you to find time to keep praying for myself and the work of Partners. There is a major conference in Kenya and another intern is preparing to leave home, so there's plenty to pray about. I'm also open to book suggestions and recipes (remember, I'm a poor cook with only a handful of ingredients).

Quote to consider:
Always assume redemptive possibility. The last word has not been spoken. And when it is, it will not be spoken by you or me. –Rob Bell

-Ben

Sooner or Later You Sleep in Your Own Space

Monday morning and all is well. I've been sleeping in my apartment, which is great. I'll get pictures at some point, but I'll probably wait until I have something more than a cot on the floor. Despite the meager furnishings, it's been great to be able to unpack, clean, and have my own space.

Yesterday was church. I went to Healing Place Church, which is where Tinashe and his family go. I realized it's been a long time since I've worshipped in a Pentecostal-style church, but it was good to meet a lot of friendly people and get to worship a bit. I met my first Americans in Swaziland, a very friendly and large group of missionaries who are part of Children's Cup, an organization that works with children and orphans all over Swaziland. They were incredibly welcoming, and it was good to get to know a few people here who know what kinds of things I'm going through. Even though most people speak English, I realized quickly that many of the understandings that we rely on in communication differ greatly over here.

So many prayers have been answered, it almost feels selfish to continue asking. But we trust that God wants us to pray about all things that concern us. Please pray that I grow as a relational person. I am about half-introvert, half-extrovert, but in Swaziland, everything is about relationships. So pray that I'll grow in my ability to engage and relate to other people, including people I barely know.

Thanks for following. Also, watch out Pittsburgh!

Expectations

Good Morning!

First off, let me say that your support and prayers have been truly overwhelming. I have a slew of emails to respond to, but first I wanted to say that we have secured an apartment. It is a nice place and it is close to the city, so I am hoping to save some money on transportation. Unfortunately, it is unfurnished, so Bonisile (our accountant, office manager, and, generally wonderful person) and I have been looking for enough furniture to help me survive. With no Craigslist or Salvation Army, it's costing more than I had hoped, but the PW office is helping me work through it, as well as working on how to best transfer funds. Sadly, this will mean I have to move out of the nice guest house that I have stayed at the past two nights.

One thing that's been a persistant thought for me is the way that my expectations have been consistently overturned. I tried to come into this adventure with as open a mind as possible, but of course I did carry expectations in. Here are a few of them.
1. Africa is Warm. FALSE. I'm sure parts of Africa are warm, but while I've been in Swaziland, temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's. In South Africa, It was 30. While the locals look ready for a blizzard, even I must admit it is chilly. It should be getting warmer though, possibly hitting 80 next week.
2. All of Africa is poor. False. There is certainly poverty, but I have been shielded from a great deal of it in Mbabane. I'm sure that will change when I go out to the farms, but in the city I've been in malls with clothing stores and places that look incredibly like American stores. There are lots of people here with educations, jobs, and good livelihoods. One thing that is largely absent is American waste. While there are many new cars, few of them are luxury cars and none are Cadillac Escalades.
3. Africans do things on their own time. False. This one may have come from truth, but Tinashe is easily as motivated as I am. When I told him that Africans weren't supposed to get impatient, he laughed and told me that he works with the same 24 hours that I do.
4. Africans are friendly people. TRUE. All of the Swazis I have met (and many I have passed on the street) have been very friendly. It's been great to be around other people who feel the urge to greet everyone they pass on the street, but I think it will take a lot of work before I am as friendly as they are.
5. Africans are crazy drivers. False. While I have not done any of my own driving, I have been driven and I have walked along many streets. And nowhere have I seen anything that rivals what I see every time I drive through Illinois.

God is Great

As I write this, I have just arrived in the AfricaWorks office in Mbabane, Swaziland. God granted me safe travels and a successful journey. And it was an adventure.

The trip took about 40 hours, including one very long plane ride and a long night trying to sleep on the floor of the Johannesburg airport where I could see my breath. It also included some wonderful scenery and a lot of great new experiences. And it is just beginning.

I don't exactly have a place to stay yet, but we're working on that. Please continue to pray that we will find a good place without too much hassle. Some plans have fallen through, but Tinashe is very helpful. It may also be a slight challenge trying to access funds from here, but we're working on that too.

Thank you much for all the prayers. I'm sure some of you are getting sick of hearing about me and my adventure, so I greatly appreciate that you are keeping me supported in prayer. I could begin to list the myriad ways this trip could have gone wrong, but you have busy lives and God protected me from every single one of them, so I'll let you go instead.

God Bless!
-Ben

God Willing

In 7 hours, I will be leaving for the airport in Chicago, flying from there to Washington DC, then through Dakar (Senegal) to Johannesburg, and then on to Manzini. The trip will be about 39 hours, with about 22 of those hours in the air.

This post is titled "God Willing" because at this point, everything should be prefaced with "If God is willing..." I'm packing my bags, and tomorrow I'll be handing them to the airline, who will hopefully transport them to Swaziland. And then I'm getting on a series of planes, which will hopefully carry me to Swaziland as well. When I get there, I will hopefully find someone I know and be able to find a place to stay, a place to live, and other essentials. Then, as someone once said, I hope "to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." And all of this will only occur if God sees fit.

Please pray that God does see fit. Please pray for a safe journey and a smooth transition into my new life in Swaziland. I've got a lot coming in the next few days, and your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

In Training

Today was the first day of orientation! We learned a variety of useful skills, from staying safe to filling out expense reports. It was also great to meet the Partners staff and get to hear some of their stories. Over the next two days, we'll learn more about marketing, advocacy, and living in a new culture. Three days is certainly not enough to prepare us for the enormous changes we will experience in the next month, but we are certainly learning.

I'm also working on learning a little bit of SiSwati, the native language. I'm not very good at languages, but I'm trying learn enough to show respect for their culture. I'm hoping it becomes a little bit easier once I am surrounded by the sounds of the language.

I'm only ten days away from leaving, so please pray that my final preparations go smoothly. I cannot convey how much your prayers mean to me, especially at this point in my life.

Salani kahle (Stay well).